bragaldi



3 Sheets-Sheet l1.

Patented Sepp. 21, 1886.

My BRAGALDI.

(No Mo de1.)-

BOX POR'L'ETTBRS 'AND OTHER ARTICLES, N0. 349,382.

MMM

Kem

l I I l l l .(No Model.) A 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

M. BRAGLDI.

BOX FOR LETTERS AND OHBR ARTICLES. NO. 349,382.

Patelted Sept. 21, 188.6.

N. Pneus Pnacuumognphnr. wnnmgmn. n, c,

(No Model.) v Sheets-Sheet 3. E M. BRAGALDI.

BOX EUR. LETTERS AND OTHER ARTICLES.

N0.49,382.' z Pa1;entedsept.21,1a86.

N. PETERS Phnbumagnpmr. washington. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARIO BEAGALDI, OE NEW YOEK, N. Y.

BOX FOR LETTERS AND; OTHER ARTICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,382, dated September 21, 1886.

Application led `September 2B, 14885.A Serial No. 178,399. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Beitknown that I, MARIO BRAGALDI, of the city and State of New York, have invented` an Improvement in Boxes for Letters and other Articles, of which the following is a specification. v A

In Letters Patent N o. 192,146, granted to me June 19, 1877, a letter-box is shown and described having two flaps at the bottom of the box, the outer one being held bya lock operated by a key, and the inner one held by bolts that arcoperated by a frame connected to a pouch, said frame being inserted in the base of the box after the outer iiap had been opened by a key. The insertion ol' this frame -in the base of the box caused the inner flap of the box to drop simultaneously with the opening of a flap in the top of the pouch, thereby allowing the letters in the box to drop vinto the pouch, and upon the withdrawal of the frame and pouch from the box both said iaps were closed and locked simultaneously.

My present invention relatesA to the lock mechanism of the inner flap of the lettenbox, and to the ilap of the letter-pouch, whereby great security is afforded against the contents of the letter-box, or of the pouch after the letters have been dropped therein, being tampered with. I make use of spring tumblers and levers upon the frame of the iap of the pouch for operating the bolts that hold said Ilap, and these tumblers are operated by keys supported within the base of the letter-box, which keys are brought down in line with the tumblers by levers and links actuated by projections on the pouch-frame when said frame is inserted into the base of the letter-box.

In the drawings, Figurel is a front elevation ofthe letter-box with the outer iiap opened. Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly in section, of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section of the lower part of the box at the line a: x, Fig. 1, with the pouch-frame partly entered within the box. Fig. 4 is a section at the line y y of Fig. 3 with the parts in the same position. Fig. 5 is a section at the line z z, Fig. 4, with the parts in the position they assume after the pouch-frame has been fully entered below the box. Fig. 6 is a sectional plan at one corner of the letter-box, the inner casing of the box not being shown; and Fig. 7 is a plan, partly in section, of the pouch-frame and parts carried by it. i

The letter-box a, inner Hap, b, hinged at 2, outer flap, c, hinged at 3, slidesZ for theilanges i', of the pouch-frame z', liangcs o and n upon the respective iiaps, b and m, for connecting said flaps, so that they move together when being opened and closed,are substantially the same as shown in my aforesaid patent. The lock at c, operated by a key inserted at d for releasing the hook 4, upon the ange c of the Aiap c, and the dial c?, having numbers thereon, one of which is visible through the opening e?, to indicate the time of the next `collection of letters, may also be of the character set forth in my said patent.

At a3 I have shown an opening for the insertion of letters into the box c, and this opening is closed by a hinged ap, at. There may be one or more openings, als, in the top of the box, closed by thick glass, to enable the letter-carrier to see if there are letters in the box,.and I provide an interior casing, as, to the box, into which casing the letters pass as "dropped through the opening c3. The casing as is larger at the bottom than at the top, so that the letters will always pass down freely. This casing is supported upon a plate, a, that is riveted or otherwise secured to the lower part of the box a, and in this plate there is an opening that is closed by the iap b. v The iap b is kept closed by bolts p, that pass into holes in the iap b, and these bolts are upon levers q pivoted at 10 in recesses beneath the plate a at the sides of the box. The levers q have inclined ends 12, that are acted upon by the raised portions q2 of the lianges Il of the pouch-frame when said pouch-frame is being passed into the base of the box, and theseprojections swing the lever q and withdraw the l -bolts p, allowing the flap b to drop. Before the lever q can be moved by the pouch-frame it is necessary to lift the spring-dog r, the

free end of which is behind the incline 12 of 95 g. Y This is accomplished by the frame Il running under the projection 17 on the dog,which lifts the dog sufficiently high for the inclined end of q to pass beneath it. (See Fig. 3.) Vhen the pouch -frame is withdrawn, the spring 11 moves the lever q, and the bolts enter the flap b and hold the same, said iiap b IOO having been raised by the withdrawal of the frame, as hereinafter described. The means just described for locking and releaslng the lap b are similar to those in my said patent.

The ilap m of the pouch-frameis pivoted at 9 to the frame 1', and said frame i and pouch are permanently connected together, and adapted to being inserted underneath and removed from the letter-box, and the flap m opens inwardly, and when closed is held up by the turning-bolts t t, each bolt being upon a stud, 1S, passing through the frame i, and carrying a pinion, 19, that gears into a toothed segment, 20, upon the lever m3. The lever m" is upon the pivot m", and carries a stud, m5, adjacent to the notches in thespriiig-tumblers mf. A case, i?, covers the levers, tumblers, and pinions, and there are openings at if in the case for the passage ol the keys ai, that act upon the tumblers. The keys n are at the lower ends of vertical studs a5, which studs are connected at their upper ends by the bar a, so that they can move together, and said studs are guided by the slotted tubes nl, that are secured to the plate a, near the i'ront ol' the letterbox.

a* is a spring acting between the plate u and the bar a,to keep thekeys and studs elevated, and there are openings in the plate a to allow the keys n to pass down below the plate a".

t3 are levers pivoted at 26, and t* are links connecting the levers t with the levers t5, and the arms t of the latter are above pins t7 up` on the studs n, which studs are in vertical slots in the tubes 917. Then the pouch-frame z' is passed into the box a, the projections q2 act upon the levers t slightly in advance of acting on the levers q, and the continued movenient of t causes the levers t to act through t", t, and t, and thereby bring down the keys a below the plate a and in line with the openings 5 in the case i", and as further movement is given to the pouch-frame the lever mi and tumblers m come in contact with the keys n, and said levers m and tumblers m are moved, and the pins m5 enter the slots of the tumblers m, swinging the levers mi, and causing the pinions 19 and bolts t to receive about a quarterrotation and release the flap n1. During this operation the flap b had been released from the bolts 1)', as before explained, and the flaps b and m dropped simultaneously, being connected by the Iianges a and o, and all letters or packages upon the flap b passed into the pouch h by the swinging down of the tlaps I) and m. XVhen the pouch-frame is being withdrawn, the keys n are raised by the spring as as soon as the pouch-frame has reached the position shown in Fig. 3, and the parts assume the position shown in that igure, and during the withdrawal of said pouch-frame the iiaps b and m are swung up by the flanges n` and o, and both locked simultaneously before the pouch-frame is drawn ont of the box a.

I have shown but two tumblers, m, foreach key; but this number may be increased, or only one used, these tumblers being thin and lying close to each other.

Sometimes it is desirable for the letter-earrier to agitate the contents of the letter-box or of the pouch, so as to canse the mail-matter to pass down from the box into the pouch.

I provide for the carrier doing this, and at the same time prevent direct access to the mailmatter by applying a glove or mitt, g, that is of a size to receive the hand freely, the said glove or mitt being within the pouch, and the wrist portion attached to the pouch, as shown, so that the hand can be inserted into this mitt and thrust up into the box, or used to spread the mail-matter inside the pouch.

This box and its appliances are available for receiving letters or packages, or railway tickets or coupons, or for money or payments of any kind, and for the removal into the pouch of all such articles.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with the letter-box a, of the keys a, iitted to slide vertically in the bottom plate of the box, a spring for lifting said keys, levers t, having their lower ends in the slideways of the box, the levers I?, each connected at one end with a key, fn', the links t* connecting thelevers t and t", the pouch, and the poncltframe adapted to slide in thclower part of the letter-box, and having projections q2 to act upon the levers 1F", the ilap m hinged to the pouch-frame, the turning-bolts t, for holding up said ilap, andthe tumblers mi' and pinions 19, l'or operating the turning-bolts l, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The combination, with theletter-boxhaving a hinged iap at the lower portion, of keys fitted to slide vertieallyin the bottom plate of the box, the pouch-frame, a hinged ilap to t-he same, tumblers upon the pouch-frame, turning-bolts for holding up the ilap, and levers arranged, substantially as set forth, to bring down the keys and operate upon the tumblers, and release the bolts that hold the flap of the pouch when its frame is inserted in the base of the box, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with the letter-box a and the lap at the bottom thereof, of a movable pouch, and a frame for the same, and a glove forming part of the pouch to allow for agitating the mail-matter, subslanii ally as set forth.

Signed by me this 4th day of August, A. l). 1885.

M. BRAGALDI.

Vitnesses:

GEO. T. lIcKNEv, VILLIAM G. Mo'r'r.

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